Mineral separator



June 26, 1951 w. R. J. woocK MINERAL SEPARATOR 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 2, 194'? INVENTOR ZaRlwoacb ATTORNEYS June 26, 1951 w. R. J. woocK MINERAL SEPARATOR 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 2, 1947 R O T N E V m ZU.R.JI woocb ATTORNEYS June 26, 1951 w. R. J. WOOCK MINERAL SEPARATOR Filed Aug. 2, 194'? 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR ZU.R...7.ZUqock/ ATTORNEYS Patented June 26, 195i U NIT'ED S TATE S. OFFICE MINERAL SEPARATOR Walter R. J. Woock, Lodi, Calif.

' Application August 2, 1947,.SeriafN0. 765,675.

1 This invention relates to mineral separators particularly for the recovery of fine values, and represents improvements over the structure shown in my Patent No. 2,001,756 dated May 21, 1935. The major object of this invention is to provide a separator for the purpose which has in improved separating arrangement so constructed that the concentrates recovered will be of such high grade qualities that'it may be directly refined without any other preliminary process.

Another object is to provide a separating device arranged to eifectively'recover'fine gold and platinum dust such as may be found in beach sands and other placer deposits, and which heretoforehave been practically impossible to savewithout great loss in the recovery.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved mechanical construction for agitating the separator unit which combines a shaking impact with a timed jig pulsation and thereby providing an improved means for shaking, jigging and continuously refining and unloading the values from the separator This means cooperates with a special form of separator unit,, arranged so that the shaking stroke, is accompanied by a definite impact at one end of the stroke; and so that the length of the stroke and 6 Claims. ('01. 209423) the severity of the impact may be altered to suit materials having different degrees of fineness and. specific gravity. Combined with the upward stroke of the shaking movement is the pulsation of the jig bed, which lifts the lighter material and drops the heavier material through the bed at theimpact.

Another object is to provide for washing the undesired material from the cleanup belt and feeding such material back over the top of the jig bed. Heretofore such materials were washed over the entire length of the belt, causing considerable loss. This feature also eliminates the re-cleaning ofjig products.

A further object of the invention is to provide a magnetic field control which suspends the valueless magnetic iron away from the precious metals; said iron being then washed over the as'will fully appear bya perusal of the following.

specification and claims.

In the drawings: Fig. 1- is a side elevation or the improved separator.

Fig. 2' is a fragmentary sectional elevation of ing side portions between which a downwardly sloping jigging separator unit is disposed, and

which is indicated at'2i'. At. its"1'o,wer end the unit is supported by side.- hangers 3 connected. at

the top by a knife-edged cross bar 4' which rides.

a circumferential groove in a longitudinally lexten'ding screw 5 which is. supported for manual adjustment in a bearing nut 6 mounted. on the frame I. At its upper end the unit is supported by side hangers 1, each ofwhich, at. its. upper end, is provided with a knife-edged bearing 8 riding in any one of,.a number of'V-seats 9 formed in an upstanding bracket I'Ilfmounted on the. frame I.

Journaled on the frame under and intermediate the ends of the unit 2 is a cross shaft Il-I, driven by a motor I2. Cams or eccentrics I3 on the shaft act against tappets I l secured to. the unit 2 in position tomove. the latter in the direction. of its lower end; depending links I5 connecting the tappets and frame I. A central; longitudinally adjustable screw I6 is mounted in connection with the brackets ID beyond the upper end of the unit. 2 and, isadapted to engage a cross block I! on the latter. (See Fig. 2.)

By reason of the above constructionv a pulsating movement is given to. theii ging unit .the cams. and tappets being arranged to move the unit lengthwise in the direction .of its lower end against its own weight. When the cams letvgo the unit drops back to its normal position of itself until .it fetches up against the screw I6.

The length of the stroke or the longitudinal movement of-the unit isgoverned by adjusting the screw Iii.v since as the screw isv advanced against the block [1, the. unit 2 isshifteddength wise so that. the tappetsIl back away :fromthe cams and the movement imparted tosaidunit by the cams is obviously decreased accordingly.

Adjustment-of the-screw 5controls-the sudden ness of the retracting. movementof the.- unit after the cams are released since the point of suspenc a considerable portion of its length, is of troughlike form, and includes upstanding side walls |8. Jig compartments, arranged in step-like form, and indicated generally at l9, are mounted on and extend the full width between the side walls l8, which thus also form the side walls of the different compartments. Each compartment includes a horizontal bottom of fine screen 23, an upstanding solid back wall 2| and an upstanding front wall 22 of screen, the latter being directly above the back wall 2| of the adjacent compartment below. A bedding comprising fine shot 23 to a desired depth rests on the screen of each compartment. The screens and the bedding shot are of stainless steel or the like. 'The lowest compartment IS in the series delivers onto a rifile bed 24 in the lower end of the trough, as shown in Fig. 3.

Under each compartment l9 and extending for substantially the full length thereof is a loose hung plate 25 which is disposed at a downward acute angle in the direction opposite to the slope of the trough. All the plates 25, intermediate their ends, rest on eccentrics 26 which are attached to radial arms 21 on the outside of one side wall l8 and are there connected to a common bar 28 which may be shifted by an actuating lever 29. (See Fig. 1.) In this manner the angle of slope of the plates 25 may be simultaneously altered without interfering with the upward movement of said plates as unit 2 pulsates.

Ore and water are fed to the jig compartment from a hopper 3|] formed with the unit 2 at its upper end and including a vertically adjustable control gate 3| at its forward end. The material passing through the gate is evenly discharged onto a platform 32 and then onto a plate 33 which extends under said platform from the top of the back wall 2| of the topmost compartment I3. If desired, a scavenger screen 34 may extend from said platform 32 over the series of jig compartments to then discharge onto the rilfle bed 24; such a screen being used when the classifying of relatively large sized material, such as pea gravel, is necessary.

Disposed under the unit 2 is an endless belt 35- having a special irregular surface on its upper face, as indicated at 36. The upper run of" the belt extends under the compartments [3 parallel to the series thereof (or having the same slope as the unit 2 as a whole) and also under and beyond the plate 33. Said run of the belt travels upwardly of the unit and is disposed so that the plates 25, at their free end, may just about touch the belt while the plate 33; also terminates close to said belt, as shown in-Fig. 2.

The belt at its lower end passes over a roller 31 and its upper end over a similar roller 38 disposed some distance beyond the plate 33 and which is driven from the shaft H at a reduced speed by a suitable belt arrangement 39. From the, roller 38 the belt passes downwardly into a stationary tank 40, about a roller 4| in said tank, then up and about a roller 42 clear of the tank, and'then back to roller 31. The rollers 38 and 4| are connected by a chain drive 43 within the tank, so that the shafts of said rollers will not project through the side walls thereof.

Water is kept at a certain level in the tank 40, which communicates with a clean-up tank 44 by a conduit 45 discharging into said tank 44 below a filter screen 46 therein. Water is also maintained in the tank 44 to a level above said screen and is circulated through tank 43 by a pump system 41 which takes from tank 44 above the screen and discharges into tank 40 below the water level and directly against the upwardly moving portion of belt 35. The tank 44 terminates at the bottom in a trap portion 48 having a valved discharge conduit 49.

Disposed immediately above the belt 35, between the plate 33 and the roller 38, is a constantly fed water pan 50 discharging onto the belt just before the latter reaches the roller 38 and cleaning any precious metal thereon before entering the tank 40. Any waste from the above belt clean-up flows down unit 2 with the water and against the upward movement of the belt, and is received on the plate 33 to be again treated in the compartments l9. An electro-magnet 5| is suspended above the belt '35 between plate 33 and the pan 5!) to create a magnetic field which holds any worthless black sand in suspension in the water and prevents the same from being carried into the tank 43.

In operation, with the shaft ll driven and the separator unit being shaken or pulsated, as previously described, and with the belt 35 constantly moving so that its upper end travels upwardly of the unit, values-containing material is fed with a supply of water into the hopper 30, from which a controlled flow for the full width of the separator passes into the adjacent or uppermost jig compartment l9, and then on down the row of compartments. As the material enters said compartment and settles on the shot bedding 23, the latter is intermittently jolted and shifted lengthwise against the back wall 2| by the return impact of the unit 2 against the screw l6 as the cams l4 let go as previously described. This jolting and agitating of the bedding causes heavy particles in the material to gradually work their way through the bedding. They then pass through the screen 20 and are caught by the plate 25 underneath and are then swept onto the upwardly moving belt,

the irregular surface of which holds such particles and prevents them being washed down the belt by the constant flow of water.

This movement of the bedding, which allows the heavy particles to percolate therethrough,

' aided by the fact that each impact of the unit 2 tends to create a downward suction through the bedding. When this suction is relieved by the movement of the unit 2 in the opposite direction, the water on the belt 35 tends to be drawn up into the compartment at the opening from bej tween the adjacent end of the plate 25 and the bottom screen 20, causing the bedding to lift and thus allowing more heavy particles to percolate down therethrough. The heavier the particles the more readily they move down so that they soon reach and become held in the crevices in the belt surface.

The plate 25 being of solid material and sloping down protects any fine gold and platinum dust from being carried on down in the stream of water. The suctional tendency above noted and the accompanying fluttering of the plate 25 causes such fine dust to be sucked along the plate r and deposited on the belt, on which it is retained.

The angle at which the plate 25 is disposed and I consequently its relationship to the belt is adjusted by means of the lever 29 to give thebest results for the particular type or fineness of material being handled.

The overflow of material from each compartment [9 is handled in the same manner in the other compartments of the series so that by the time the lower end of the series is reached all values in the initially fed material have been separated therefrom and caught on the belt. The tailings pass out from the lower end of unit 2, the rifiie unit 24 providing an added safeguard against the loss of any coarse values.

The values on the belt travel upwardly beyond the row of compartments 19, are cleaned by water from the pan 50, and are deposited in the tank 40 as the belt passes about the rollers 38 and 4|. Any values tending' to stick on the belt are washed oif by the water forcefully discharged into said tank against the belt by the pump system 41. The values drain from said tankinto the trap 48 of the clean-up tank 44 from which they are removed when desired by opening the valved outlet 49.

From the foregoing description it will be readily seen that there has been produced suchja device as substantially fulfills the objects of the invention as set forth herein.

While this specification sets forth in detail the present and preferred construction of the-device, still in practice such deviations from such detail may be resorted to as do not form a departure from the spirit of the invention, as definedby the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, the following is claimed as new and useful and upon which Letters Patent is desired: 4

1. In combination: a unit mounted-for longitudinal shaking, a separating compartment mounted on the unit, such compartment-including a foraminous bottom, separating" material resting on the bottom, a solid flat plate disposed below the bottom and sloping downwardly at an angle to such bottom, such plate having a width at least equal that of the bottom and such plate being adapted to catch .material falling through the bottom, a values catching elementf disposed at a slope the reverse of that of the plate, such element extending across the lower and of the plate closely adjacent thereto, means to flow water down the slope of the element and means to feed material to the separating compartment.

2. A combination as in claim 1 including means hingedly supporting the upper end of the plate.

3. A combination as in claim 2 including a support on which the plate loosely rests.

4. A combination as in claim 3 in which the support is an adjustable cam operative to effect vertical adjustment of the plate between the compartment bottom and the values catching element.

5. A mineral separator including in combination with a sloping values catching element, a row of separating compartments above and delivering onto said element, means to feed material to be separated into the uppermost compartment, a plate sloping backwardly and upwardly from the rim of said uppermost compartment toward and terminating closely adjacent the element, and a water pan above the element upwardly beyond said plate and overflowing onto said element at the end of the pan furthest from the plate.

6. A separator as in claim 5 in which the element is an upwardly traveling belt, there being a clear space provided above the belt between the plate and pan, and a magnetic device mounted above the belt within said space and effective to hold any magnetizable material in suspension above that portion of the belt traveling adjacent said space.

WALTER R. J. WOOCK.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 258,879 Batchly June 6, 1882 315,824 Patten Apr. 14, 1885 347,867 Card Aug. 24, 1886 450,280 Young Apr. 14, 1891 539,804 Gibbens May 28, 1895 1,277,144 Sowers Aug. 27, 1918 1,605,752 McLean Nov. 2, 1926 1,964,733 Homan July 3, 1934 2,001,756 Woock May 21, 1935 2,061,179 Wettlaufer Nov. 17, 1936 2,068,783 Wendell Jan. 26, 1937 2,075,747 Nolte Mar. 30, 1937 2,078,275 Prins Apr. 27, 1937 2,085,250 Cline June 29, 1937 2,156,575 Stump May 2, 1939 2,410,326 Zeigler Oct. 29, 1946 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 148,168 Great Britain Mar. 10, 1921 

1. IN COMBINATION: A UNIT MOUNTED FOR LONGITUDINAL SHAKING, A SEPARATING COMPARTMENT MOUNTED ON THE UNIT, SUCH COMPARTMENT INCLUDING A FORAMINOUS BOTTOM, SEPARATING MATERIAL RESTING ON THE BOTTOM, A SOLID FLAT PLATE DISPOSED BELOW THE BOTTOM AND SLOPING DOWNWARDLY AT AN ANGLE TO SUCH BOTTOM, SUCH PLATE HAVING A WIDTH AT LEAST EQUAL THAT OF THE BOTTOM AND SUCH PLATE BEING ADAPTED TO CATCH MATERIAL FALLING THROUGH THE BOTTOM, A VALUES CATCHING ELEMENT DISPOSED AT A SLOPE THE REVERSE OF THAT OF THE PLATE, SUCH ELEMENT EXTENDING ACROSS THE LOWER END OF THE PLATE CLOSELY ADJACENT THEREOF, MEANS TO FLOW WATER DOWN THE SLOPE OF THE ELEMENT AND MEANS TO FEED MATERIAL TO THE SEPARATING COMPARTMENT. 